Friday, September 21, 2012

Visitors to Columbus Circle in Manhattan may notice a room perched on scaffolding six stories above the ground at the site of a statue of Christopher Columbus. The 13 foot tall statue, normally solitary atop a 60 foot column, is now encased in the room. Visitors can ascend six flights of stairs to commune with Columbus inside what appears to be a typical American living room. The project, entitled “Discovering Columbus,” is an installation by Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi. Free timed tickets to view the installation are available to the public through November 18.

German designer Dennis P Paul has created an electronic instrument that makes sound based on the contours of everyday objects (video). An object is placed on a rotating mount on the instrument. The instrument then rotates the object rotisserie-style as a precision rangefinding laser reads the contours of the object. The contour data is translated into surprisingly musical electronic sound. Paul calls the device, rather descriptively, “An Instrument for the Sonification of Everday Things.”